The Washington critic., 1887-08-25
II. SYLVESTER, Editor
GROVER CLEVELAND MEN"

ment In st. Louis next month. "Won.
dtI how many Grover Cleveland men
there will be among them, suggests
the Philadelphia Press.
THE CRrrC is unable to relieve the
solictudc Of It's esteemed contemporary
on this point, but 1t occurs to us hat,
considering what the President has
done for the old soldiers aud what they
are looking for biu 10 do with the pen
sion legislation Of the ucNt Congress, at
least 1900 cut Of the - 600 Grand
Army veterans in the st Louis parade
ought to be pretty good Grover Cleve-
land men.
This allows thousand off for the
General Tutle contingent
1t is certainly not fnir 10 condemn
the President for exercising u careful
discrimination in his Judgment of prI.
valc pension bills. II is possible.
indeed, that in vctoing some Of these
he has done an uninteulional ,aiu,ticr,
hut 10 charge him with upiriendly
motives in this action is the height of
absurdity. 1t should he remembered
that every veto Of uu unjust or uproper
measure is in the interest Of deserving
claimants. The honest pensioners have
reason to be grateful to the President,
rather than cause to condemn him for
his efforts to keep the pension rolls
clear of frauds and impostures, and
there is no rational ground for the be
t lief that his action In the premises has
been dictated by other than a patriotic
regard for the honor of his country
and the protection of its loyal bene-
fciaries.
But this is a small matter compared
with the unprecedented record which
the President has made in the other
direction. ltis better to judge him by
what he has done than to misjudge
him for what he has not done.
During the two years that he has
been in oilice-and the figures we use
p are from the Boston Grant IImy
Rccor& Cor August-Mr. Cleveland has
approved sG3 private pension acts.
Grant in eight years approved only
isj; Mr., Hayes in four years only
3O3, and Garfield and Arthur In the
same time ;36. Besides his, presiden'
Cleveland has approved three general
pension scls--the first, of March 10.
1856, increasing to Sl9 The pension of
700Si widows, miuor5 aud depen lent
relatives Of Union soldiers; the second,
of August I, 1856, increasing the pen.
sion Of 10000 crippled aud mained
Union soldiers Of tho late war fiom 81
10 $50, from $50 To $3j, ani from
s31.j0 TO 80 per mouth, aud the third,
OF January 20, 1s5i, which has already
placed upon The pcusiun rolls S,l5j
survivors and widows of the war with
NoXico, and this number will be iu.
creased to at least !5,OOO within the
present fiscal year.
Why then should not the 5O,pD0
veterans at St. Louis be Grover Clcvu.
land men z"
THE platform of the Iowa Republi.
cans favors protective tariff, opposes
the immigration Of the criminal and
vicious, approves the Interstate Com.
nerce law, urges protection of the
people against monopolies, demands
liberal pensions and insists upon a
vigorous enforcement of the prohibi.
tory law, having mo compromise to
make with the saloons" AS to Mr..
Cleveland's Administration, It can
hardly find language strong enough to
express Its detestation of it. Not only
are the President and his associates
charged with tlagrant violations of the
Civil Service law, but with various
other oiIenses. To quote from the
plank of the platform in which the Al.
ministraiion is arraigned:
In its discrimination against and its shame.
ful abuse Of Union soldiers and tho constant
preference II has shown 10 the mon who
fought to destroy the Union; ia its despotil
ufc Of the Executive power to veto bills
passed by Congress for the relief Of Union
soldiers and the Des Moiucs river land .ettlers
in It's attempt to reverse the verdict Of the
war by surrender Of the Rebel battle Gags;
in Its failure to reduce the surplus or decrease
taxation, and for lis broken promises to the
PEOPLE and it, ineihCieEtdi charge OF the pub.
lie serS c', wu are compelled to denuuuco Il
as being unputriuilc unwurt' 2. u disappOi. e
nent TO the cpuutry and fresh proof OF tn.
iuGupacity oJ the Democrat, party To con.
duct successfully the affairs OF the Nation.
All which is important if true; bu
our Republican friends In Iowa see
to have drawn upon their prejudice
and their imapinltlous I'm about eau
proportions for this savage pronounce
ment against an Administration that Il
the main has commended itself to th
enlile confidence ofrhe people.
THE Part seems to think there's n
need OF new party founded ON tn
principle Of lIuwc Rule hrcluse In
general correctness NJ the principle 6
"undoubtcd' and "tbrrr is not polil
ical party in this country mu does %,
tacitly accept IT, Bot Soma.uin
more than tarit accrpmiNu Is wtnle
TO put party In plain and recogrzH
accord with this principle. The Rr
publican Convention of ohio aud Il.
publlcans elsewhere have temrl
politically sagacious to put themsclvc
boldly upon record as 10 some Of III
features of this issue, If he Demo
cratic party is taking the same posi-
tlon It Is done so "taoitly" that "
have never heard Of It. Il exhibits
tImidily In the presence of the question
that shows It to be not altogether accept
able, and tina, 1t is not supported by th
general consent" of parties; whilt
neither Republicans nor Democrat
have yet venlured to demand that, ii